Xmas Day 2006!

The Xmas tree!,
originally uploaded by michelleeg.

Phew what a day! There were 10 of us for Xmas Lunch, but first thing in the morning was the Champagne Breakfast! Yum! Pancakes, Croissants, French Toast. Yum!

Lunch was Turkey and Beef Roasts with all the vegies. I'd had a great week budgeting and buying food and getting it in order for Xmas. Nadine was the gal with the cooking times so between us we put on a feast fit for ... well maybe 12 people!! heh heh. We were certainly stuffed at the end of it all!

19th Dec Snow Patrol!

The girls at Snow Patrol,
originally uploaded by michelleeg.

Nadine had gotten me a ticket to see Snow patrol so off to the Wembley Arena we went. It was amisty night and sooo cold!! Thank goodness that with 5000 people inside the arena it soon warmed up. We had seats up the back so had a great view over the arena down onto the floor and to the band.

17th Dec Jo-Anne's Farewell Lunch

Jo-Anne and Michelle,
originally uploaded by michelleeg.

So long, farewell, good luck back in OZ! Jo-Anne left London to head back to Perth and settle back there. She'd gotten a good job and so decided to head home. All the best! We had a lovely lunch at the Kensington Roof Gardens and checked out the flamingoes

8th Dec - 10th Dec Kirsti's Sisters visit London

Kaie, Mich and Kairi,
originally uploaded by michelleeg.

Kaie and Kairi flew in from Estonia for the weekend to see the sights, shop and take photos. We shopped on oxford street, and kings Rd but the most popular by far was Primark in Hammersmith! hehheh

We met up with Barbara and went to Tiger Tiger for the Saturday night. It was one of her friends' birthday's but it was so crowded in there that they went elsewhere and left us to boogie the night away.

The Sunday night I met the girls in Jewel in Piccadilly Circus and we had a couple of drinks. I wasf itting in with the Estonian theme and wearing the Estonian t-shirt the girls gave me. Kaie and kairi seemed to keep running into Estonian people and Jewel was no exception. Mart Sanders who is very popluar over there was in town to give a performance at the Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian Embassy. I'd had a couple of drinks by that stage and was quite happy to go up to him and say Teré and Tervesex! (hello and cheers.. not the correct spelling!) and chat for a while. He gave me his CD! Score! Chatted to a couple of Swedish blokes who were quite suprised that I didn't know where Sweden was on the map since I was from Estonia... oops! Corrected them and went out to take photos of St Paul's before heading back to send Kaie and Kairi home.

2nd Dec - 7th Dec Food food and more food in Germany!

MMMM waffles, strawberries and chocolate sauce!,
originally uploaded by michelleeg.

mmm yum!! I flew from Barcelona to Cologne to take advantage of the Xmas Markets and drink Gluwhein. hoo boy! I stuffed myself silly for 5 days. Waffles, Bratwurst, Potato fritters, chocolate dipped strawberries, pork roll, pretzels and more!

I spent the first day wandering through the Chocolate Museum and around the Xmas markets. Themarkets all started to look the same after a while, but i tasted the Gluwhein numeroustimes!It wasgood. still I prefer the White instead of the red Gluwhein. The Lindt Chocolate Museum was great! Not enough free chocolate samples though.

I had 5 days in Germany so spent the next 3 days exploring Munster, Aachen and Bonn. It was lovely!

The highlight of the trip for me was I think seeing inside St Ursula's Church and seeing the bones on the walls. There is a rich Roman history in Cologne too. During WW2 a bunker was being dug for shelter and they discovered a mosaic from the Roman days... holy moly!

28th Nov - 2nd Dec Barcelona!

Barthelona Barthelona!!,
originally uploaded by michelleeg.

I headed off for slightly sunnier climes hoping to see the Gaudi Architecture that I'd caught glimpse of 3 years previously. The last time I was there it was scorching hot .. too hot for me... this time it was perfect! About 20 degrees and sunny. I spent a day on the sightseeing bus orientating myself and then walked and metroed it to see Parc Guell, La Sagrada Familia, Casa Batllo, The Dragon gate and more! did the cultural thang and went to the Jean Miro Museum.... but was more interested in the Alexander Calder sculptures!

I took advantage of the hostel activities and watched Flamenco Dancing and ate Tapas. Also took a spanish cooking course and learnt how to make Sangria, Paella and Gazpacho. YUM!